Coronial probe into death of backpacker Kellie Carmichael begins

New details have emerged over a fresh investigation into how a Geelong backpacker met her end after she vanished from a Blue Mountains hostel more than two decades ago.

Kellie Carmichael’s remains were discovered in Katoomba earlier this year after she vanished in 2001.

New details have emerged over a fresh investigation into how a Geelong backpacker met her end after she vanished from a Blue Mountains hostel more than two decades ago.

Detectives from Sydney’s unsolved homicide squad have been working on newly compiled evidence for the NSW Coroner’s Court after discovering the remains of Kellie Carmichael in Katoomba in May.

Her bones were found on a cliff face in bushland by an abseiling police officer, who was conducting a search of an unrelated case.

A new coronial probe into her death is underway.

The grim find ended a 23 year mystery into her whereabouts after she was reported missing on April 29, 2001.

A source close to the investigation revealed a third search of bushland near where her skeletal remains were located was recently completed, and it was hoped new findings into her death were imminent.

A spokesman from the NSW Coroners Court confirmed to this masthead a new probe was underway “and ongoing” after being briefed with fresh evidence from detectives.

A post-mortem examination by a forensic pathologist has been conducted in an effort to gain fresh insight into her demise, and give her distraught family much-needed closure.

Detectives are yet to formally rule out murder as the cause, although new evidence is believed to point towards misadventure or suicide.

Margaret and John Carmichael speak during a press conference in 2011 about the disappearance of their daughter. Photo: Zozan Balci.

Her parents, John and Margaret, have always dismissed the latter scenario.

Kellie, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 21, was 24 when she left her home in Geelong and travelled to NSW.

She checked out of her accommodation in Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains region, on April 29, 2001, telling staff she would return later that day to collect her belongings.

She was never seen or heard from again.

A 14-page police brief presented to NSW Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich in 2009 suggested detectives believed she had been killed and had zeroed in on a prime suspect.

It has remained a strongly held belief of her parents.

It’s understood new findings could be handed down as early as January.

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Originally published as Coronial probe into death of backpacker Kellie Carmichael begins